Fooding

Growing up, I SUCKED at cooking. I set a pot on fire BOILING WATER. I set a frying pan on fire MAKING PANCAKES (and that pan had to be thrown out...there was no saving it). I was bad bad bad at cooking or anything kitchen related.

Now though? I'm on a roll. I'm finding that I have natural instincts in the kitchen and I follow them and it usually turns out good. Time for some food pictures and talk.

Scalloped Potatoes

This was the first time I have ever attempted to make these babies from scratch. I love scalloped potatoes and I always end up adding my own cheese to the boxed stuff anyways, so I decided to give it a go. I looked at a few recipes online just for a basic idea of where to start and so many said 6-8 potatoes. Let me tell you that would make A FREAKING LOT. I used 4 potatoes, but one was very small. Anyways, recipe.

4 peeled and thinly sliced potatoes

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 cup of milk (roughly...I don't measure)

A buttload of cheese

Onion powder

Pepper

Butter to grease the dish

Oven preheated to 425 degrees F

Basically just toss it all together in your dish and makes sure there's cheesy goodness throughout. I ended up baking it for close to two hours, but I could have left it in a bit longer. It was hearty and very delicious. This made enough to serve both B and I, along with a salad.

Spicy Salad

This is the salad I spoke of in my last post. Try it!

Salmon

I'm not a salmon fan, but B is so I decided to experiment a bit.

2 salmon filets (frozen)

Sprinkling of dill 

1/3 of a cup of melted margarine

1 tsp corn starch

Splash of milk

Onion powder

Crushed red pepper

Oven: 350 F

I brushed some of the melted margarine onto the filets (both sides). Next I poured the milk, dill and corn starch into the rest of the melted margarine and mixed it well. I then poured it on the salmon (both sides, again) and then sprinkled the other spices lightly on top. Took about 20 minutes to cook perfectly, and B LOVED it. He saved one filet to take to work for lunch the next day.

Banana Muffins

Usually I make a loaf of banana bread, but these are so much more convenient for breakfasts and for B to take in his lunch to work. So I gave muffins a try and they are even better than my bread. I've been using this recipe ever since we got married.

3 ripe bananas

1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

3/4 cup of sugar (the recipe I originally used way back in 2010 called for a full cup, but I found that too sweet)

1 egg, beaten (today I didn't beat the egg, however, and it turned out fine)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Oven: 350 F

Mash the bananas thoroughly. With a wooden spoon, mix in the melted butter. Then mix in sugar, egg and vanilla. Next, sprinkled the baking soda and salt over the mixture and then stir them in. Finally, add the flour and mix it real good til it's smooth. Butter your baking pan, then pour the mixture in. For a banana loaf, you want to leave it in the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. For muffins, 30 minutes will do it. 

I am obviously loving cooking. I find that I have a very 'me' approach to it, and I like it. I need to work on making things more healthy, but I have time to work on that. For now I'm really just enjoying experimenting and creating my own recipes as well as making known recipes my own. And B doesn't mind my kitchen adventures in the slightest. He is a man and he likes to eat. And I like to feed him. And myself. I love eating. 

In G news, she's picking up new words rapidly and is really starting to get into calling me Mama on a regular basis. She's honestly the best kid. I love her so much.